First of all… Can I talk about my first eggs?!!!
Six months ago, when I began my chicken-keeping journey, I had no idea how exciting it would be to unexpectedly discover these three eggs!
Hen house building materials + sweat equity provided by my awesome husband makes these eggs worth about $1500 each.
Wow. I’m afraid to eat them.
Our first hard freeze was coming, and I wanted to winterized one raised bed. Under the great set-up (pictured below) are my arugula plants. Yummy!!!! I am obsessed with arugula and spinach salads.
My Best Arugula Salad Recipe:
To the arugula and spinach mix add seasonal fruit (blueberries, pears, apples, or strawberries…usually just one type of fruit) + glazed pecans or a packet of mixed nut salad topper + blue cheese (or feta or goat) crumbles + creamy balsamic dressing (No HFS dressing! I like Paul Newman’s because it is easily found in most grocery stores.) and, for a more hearty meal, add chicken.
Here’s a great hint: Place salad ingredients in a large bowl, add a small amount of dressing and toss. This method allows me to eat tons less dressing, and it tastes much better than dressing-drenched lettuce. Arugula is so flavorful, I can eat it plain.
A great testimonial from a girl who eats M and M’s with regularity.
I feel like a murderous gardener when forced to pull perfectly alive and growing plants out of their beds. With the 2018 summer growing season officially ending at HC Farm, the question became:
What to do with green tomatoes left on the vines?
My son fried the BEST fried green tomatoes (My first!) which tasted very close to fried pickles, slightly less sour. I learned the secret is to slice the tomatoes as thin as possible. Next, I canned green tomato pickle relish.
Which brings me to the 1995 fruity-tile in my kitchen. With each Fixer Upper episode, I fervently prayed for Joanna to help me out, ” Please do fruity-tile. Please do fruity-tile” was my chant. My daughter-in-law, too young to remember the fruity-tile era, tells me they are not so bad.
But… I know the truth.
I also know the truth of the back-breaking removal of these tiles. Ain’t gonna happen.
Enter Anna Bond.
Behold, my new Rifle Paper Co. Loloi runners. They perfectly match the dark blue color I had just painted my kitchen island + look at that awesome fruity-tile pairing.
This runner makes my kitchen look as amazing… as a 1995 fruity-tile could hope to look.
Unless… Joanna would do a kitchen with fruity-tile.
With the recent announcement the Magnolia duo will return with their own cable channel, it could still happen! I’m holding out for my fruity-tile miracle.
And… here are my green children safely tucked in for the winter. They usually do quite well on my enclosed, climate-controlled porch. I love my herbs!
What is this???? We had a dusting of snow and sleet, Highly unusual for an Arkansas November. Winter seems to have hopscotched over autumn.
The end of Daylight Savings Time spirals me into my yearly seasonal sadness. All the light goes away. I am less productive.
I think about M and M’s more than I should.
Time to consider organizing my house + Drinking more green tea + Painting the last of the 1995-era-color bedrooms + More calligraphy practice + Teaching Mr. Kite (the Art Studio Bunny) a new trick + Dreaming of that Peloton Bike
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Making Friends with My Buff Orpington